Courage and Confessions
by Shi no Megami 24
Summary: DekaRanger SenxUmeko He's always there for her to comfort her and take care of her. She knows he doesn't love her, that he just sees her as a friend. But is that enough?
1. Chapter 1

AN: Yes yes… new story… Although, I've never written a Super Sentai fic before. Exciting, lol. Anyway, please let me know what you think of it so far.

Disclaimer: No, I do not own DekaRanger… unfortunately.

Chapter 1

He was there again… always there, whenever she needed him, no matter what. He could be in the middle of something, and he would still come for her, still protect her, still comfort her, whatever she needed. He never let her down. She remembered back to when she'd first realized she loved the man. He had cared so deeply for her, protected her. He hadn't wanted her to know the truth, but she knew. She had overheard them talking, and while the truth hurt, the truth that the man she thought loved her was only using her, he had been there for her. He had taken away all that hurt in just one night. Allowing her to cry upon him like he had, allowing her the chance to show her weak side, letting her know that it was okay, he had helped her wash away all that pain.

This time he was here because she had failed a mission. He was there, comforting her, telling her it wasn't her fault. But she still felt like it was. She still felt like a complete failure. They had lost an innocent today and it was all her fault. If she hadn't of been so careless, none of this would have happened. She cried upon his shoulder, his arms draped around her loosely. He patted her on the back, whispering comforting words to her. "It's alright."

It only reminded her of how much she truly loved this man, yet she couldn't tell him. She could never confess to him. She knew he didn't love her back. She knew he only saw her as a friend, a partner. There was nothing there telling her that he loved her back. But that was okay. She was okay with that. As long as she could have him by her side, she was content.

Finally, after some time, her sobs ceased. She pulled away and wiped what remaining tears she had. Staring up at him she flashed her usual cheerful smile. He could tell she was already back to her normal self. It never took long. He had no idea that was mostly because of him. If he wasn't there it would take much longer for her to cheer up.

"Thanks Sen-san! You really are a great help."

"I didn't do anything," he simply said but she just shook her head and continued to smile. Afterwards she bounded towards the door, her ponytail bouncing up and down behind her. Disappearing through the doors, she had left his sight. Sighing, he fell back into one of the chairs and the doors opened once again. He looked up, hopeful, but had just seen Hoji and Jasmine walk through.

"What's wrong? You look disappointed," Jasmine stated.

Sen only smiled and shook his head. "No."

"How's Umeko?" Hoji asked his friend, taking a seat next to the man.

"Better."

"That's good," Jasmine said, taking a seat as well. "We don't want a depressed Umeko going around." She smiled at Sen. "You really are a miracle worker when it comes to cheering her up."

Sen blinked at the girl, confused. "What do you mean?"

Jasmine just stared at the man for a moment and started laughing. "Don't worry about it. I'll leave it for you to find out on your own."

Sen was about to press further, but Tetsu walked into the room, distracting him from his yellow clad friend. "We got a call from Ban," the younger man exclaimed.

"Oh? How is he?" Hoji asked.

"Busy chasing Alienizers. You know, the usual." The younger man shrugged his shoulders and fell into a seat. He looked around the small room. "Where's Umeko? Weren't you cheering her up?" He looked over at Sen.

"I was. She left," the laid back man responded.

"Ah." Tetsu placed his hands behind his head and leaned back in his chair. "I see. That didn't take long."

Jasmine couldn't help but laugh. "Yeah. Well, she probably went off to hop in the bath. We won't see her for a while." She looked around at all her friends and they all just nodded, agreeing with her. "Ya know, what happened today, any one of us could have made that mistake. It's not her fault."

Sen stared around at all his friends, watching their saddened expressions. "But she feels it is because she was the one in charge of this case." They all fell silent. They knew that they would have made the same mistake had they been in the same position, but it still didn't change the fact they understood why she felt the way she did. They knew they'd blame themselves all the same. And Sen got to thinking, remember that smile she had flashed him earlier. Something was odd about it, unusual, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it. What was it?

xxx

Umeko sat in the bath quietly for once. Today had been a horrible day for her, and she had never felt like a bigger failure than she did now. Earlier when she'd flashed her smile to Sen, she only did it because she knew the man worried about her. If she hadn't of, he would have known she still wasn't feeling any better. But this wasn't like the other times. She couldn't just cry once and get over what happened. Someone had died and it had been her fault. It was all due to her own carelessness. She was the reason someone died.

She sank into the water, and sat there for about a minute, finally coming back up for air. Tears formed yet again and she fought back the sobs. She curled over, hugging her knees to her chest. She couldn't take any more of this pain, but she knew she had to snap out of it. She had to return to her normal self, before her friends caught on to how she was really feeling. She didn't want them worrying about her anymore than they needed to. Taking in a deep shuddering breath, she calmed herself and nodded. Climbing out of the tub and draining it of all its water, she wrapped her towel around herself.

Staring in the mirror, she sighed. She knew with the way she looked her friends wouldn't buy that she was alright. He wouldn't buy it. How did he always know? How did he know so much about her? He could read her like a book that had been left wide open on a desk. No one knew her as well as he did. Yes, they had worked together for a long time now, but that still didn't explain how he knew her so well. It was like as if…

She shook her head, clearing her mind of that thought. She reminded herself that Sen had no feelings for her other than friendship. There was just nothing there. Slipping into some dry clothes she smiled at herself in the mirror, strengthening the smile till it was believable enough.

xxx

Unable to get the thought of the strange smile out of his head, Sen had decided to go see Umeko, but when he arrived to her room she wasn't there. He paced back and forth, wondering if she was still taking a bath. Umeko was known for long baths, but this one was unusually long. He was starting to worry, or rather, worry even more. Crossing his arms, he leaned back against her door.

After waiting a few minutes, he heard humming and looked over to see Umeko happily skipping to her room. When she had spotted the man, she looked up at him confused. "Sen-san, what's wrong? Why are you here?"

"I just wanted to check on you," he explained to the woman.

Umeko blinked and started laughing. "Why? I'm fine now."

There it was, that beautiful laugh of hers with that bright smile that he loved so much. He couldn't believe that he had doubted her smile earlier. Looking at her now, he wasn't sure how he could have ever doubted it. Giving off a smile he nodded.

"I'm glad. I just wanted to make sure. Well, get a good nights rest. I'll see you in the morning." He waved as he walked past her and down the hall to his own room.

Her smile slowly faded as she watched him walk away, his back now to her. She disappeared into her room before one of her friends could see her without her usual smile. These next few days were going to be tiring trying to trick her friends, but she had to do it. She just didn't want to worry them.


	2. Chapter 2

AN: Yay! New chapter! And it didn't even take that long! But I must be honest. I can't promise that all my chapters will come up this quickly. Anyway, also, a little before I continue on… The whole reason I even started writing this was I was actually tired of looking for SenxUmeko fics and running across YAOI! Granted, yes, I am a yaoi fan… but that's all I could find!!! It made me sad… and inspired me a bit to write…. Anyway, hope whoever is reading this actually likes it! Please review! I need opinions. I don't get much inspiration without opinions… or rather… I don't really get inspiration unless I know someone likes the story so far, and is really enjoying it.

**Special Thanks to:**

**Umeko-chan**: Yay! I love you! Thank you so much for reviewing! You're the reason there's a new chapter out so quickly, lol. I'm glad you like my story so far, and calling it beautiful made me even happier. I hope you continue to enjoy it!

Chapter 2

It was a new day and Umeko groaned as she slowly opened her eyes, staring over at the clock. There was an announcement for all the Deka's to gather. Apparently there was another Alienizer out on the loose, and the Deka's were being called to go take care of it. Umeko didn't want to climb out of bed though. If she went on this new mission, what if she failed again? She wasn't sure she could take another failure. After losing that civilian before, Umeko was sure that her life as a Deka would end soon.

There was a knock on her door and she groaned again, wondering who was bothering her. Rolling out of bed, she dragged herself over to the door and pulled it open, leaning against the door. She stared up at Sen, and almost laughed at herself. She should have known it would be him. It was always him.

"Umeko, we're being called. There's an Alienizer on…." He blinked as he stared down at the woman. "Umeko?"

"I'm sorry Sen-san, I'm not feeling very well today…"

"Are you okay?" He placed his hand against her forehead and she had to keep herself from blushing. "No fever. What's wrong?"

"I just feel a little woozy. I think I should sit this one out. Do you think you can tell Boss for me?"

Sen nodded, clearly worried for the woman. It was unusual for Umeko to get sick. "Yeah. You go get some rest. I'll come check on you when I get back."

"Thanks." She smiled up at him then shut the door behind her and made her way back to her bed. Falling against it, she buried her face in her pillow. She felt bad lying to Sen, but she just didn't feel she could go out onto the battlefield today. She shifted, still lying on her stomach, but her head now lying sideways on her pillow instead of buried in it. Staring over at the mirror, she realized how horrible she looked. Her eyes were puffy and red, and there were tear stains all over her face. She wondered if Sen had noticed. He probably did. He was a pretty observant guy.

She rolled onto her back and stared up at the ceiling. She felt pathetic. She was a failure. How could they continue to allow her to remain a Deka? How could they all say it wasn't her fault? She closed her eyes, falling deep in thought.

xxx

It was maybe a couple hours later, and Umeko groaned as she pried open her eyes. Peering around, she allowed her vision to adjust, landing on the door. There was a loud pounding and Umeko was sure that's what had woken her up. She didn't even remember falling asleep. Shaking her head, she climbed out of bed and somehow managed to make her way over to the door. Was it Sen? But then, he wouldn't be pounding on the door like this.

Pulling it open, she was surprised to see Ban standing there. "Ban? What…?"

"Umeko, I know you're not feeling well, but I need your help."

"What's wrong?" she asked sleepily, trying to calm the man down.

"There was this Alienizer, and everyone thought they had him trapped, but he lured us into a building. Then there was this explosion."

"An explosion?" Umeko's eyes widened as she finally woke up from her daze. "Is everyone okay? Sen! Where's Sen? I want to see him!"

Ban stared down at the ground sadly, and shook his head. "I was the only one not caught in the explosion. Sen-chan is in worse condition than everyone else."

"No." Umeko shook her head. "No! He has to be okay! He promised when he got back he'd come check on me!" Tears filled the small woman's eyes and before she knew it she was running down the hall towards the infirmary.

Finally finding which room the man was in, she shoved the door open and her heart almost stopped. She wanted to tear her gaze from the bloodied mess on the bed, but just couldn't. It hurt her seeing Sen in such a state. Slowly, forcing her feet to move, she made her way over to the bed, and with a shaky hand, took his into her own. "Sen-san…"

Slowly, his eyes opened, and he smiled up at the woman. "Umeko… I'm…. glad… you're okay…"

"Shh. Don't talk," she ordered the man. Warm tears fell, even though she fought to hold them back. She thought to herself, maybe this wouldn't have happened if she had just gone. If she hadn't been so selfish, maybe things would have ended up differently.

Sen, watching the mixed expressions on the woman's face only smiled. "Umeko… it's… not your… fault."

Eyes widening slightly at the man, she choked back a sob, holding back the urge to cry even more. He was hurt, yet here he was reading her like that open book again, trying his best to cheer her up. She leaned down, burying her face against his chest, sobbing against him as she couldn't hold it back anymore. She felt him reach up and place his hand against her head, stroking her hair.

"Umeko…" she heard Ban call from the doorway. He had been there the whole time, watching the touching display. He knew the feelings they held for one another, that Umeko loved Sen. He couldn't understand why the woman hadn't just confessed to him yet.

Standing up, the woman wiped her tears and turned to Ban, nodding her head in acknowledgement. There was an Alienizer out on the loose. It had hurt Sen. Umeko couldn't just let it get away. Pulling out her S.P.D. license, she got ready to transform when she felt a small tug on her hand. Blinking, she stared down at Sen.

"Be careful…"

She smiled reassuringly at him and nodded. "Hai." Then she ran past Ban, into the hallway, disappearing from Sen's sight. Ban shut the door, and ran to go catch up with Umeko.

xxx

DekaPink and DekaRed were currently tracking the Alienizer, both already in S.W.A.T. mode. They had been led into a dark tunnel, both knowing it was far too dangerous to be there, but not really having a choice. The Alienizer was smart. He wouldn't come out into the open. If they wanted to get to him, they had no choice but to go into enclosed spaces. There was laughter and instinctively DekaPink ran in the direction it came from.

"Umeko! Wait!" she heard DekaRed call from behind her, but she didn't stop. She was going to stop this Alienizer, no matter what. She was going to get him back for hurting Sen. After some time of following the laughter, DekaPink could no longer hear DekaRed's call behind her. She worried she might have strayed too far from him, but still didn't stop. She had a feeling she was going to regret that later, but for the moment she just didn't care. She felt herself getting closer to the Alienizer, and her heartbeat started to pick up. She felt it racing, beating faster and faster as she neared her target. She slowed her pace and kept her eyes open, searching.

There, in the corner of her eye, she spotted movement. Spinning quickly she held out her d-revolver and shot, but there was nothing there. Confused, she started looking around again. She could have sworn she saw something. She took one step and listened as it echoed through the tunnel. It was quiet… eerily quiet. She got ready to take another step when something suddenly grabbed her at the ankle. Letting out a loud scream, she felt herself being pulled into the ground. Just when she thought she was a goner, she felt someone grab a hold of her hand and she looked up.

"Ban!"

"Umeko, hold on!" He pulled, grunting as he did so, slowly managing to save her from the void in the ground. Whatever had been holding onto her ankle finally released her and she practically flew into DekaRed's embrace. She watched him hold out his d-revolver and shoot at the spot that she had been pulled, and the swirling void closed up.

"Ban, what's going on?" DekaPink asked her partner.

"I don't know. That ability is new…" The pair looked around, keeping an eye out for any other strange things.

DekaPink shook her head. "I shouldn't be here!" she told herself, and DekaRed only looked back at his companion.

"Umeko… what do you mean?"

"I mean, I'm just a screw up! A failure! I got that other civilian killed and now I'm going to get us killed!" She was panicking. DekaRed could tell. Reaching out, he grabbed his friend at the shoulders and shook her.

"Snap out of it! Even Sen-chan told you it wasn't your fault! Do you really think he'd lie to you? He's laying there in the infirmary, practically dying, and you want to accuse him of lying? Why would he even waste his breath then?"

DekaPink blinked behind her helmet and stared up at the taller man. "Ban…" She shook her head. "I'm sorry… I…" She had to snap out of it. She knew this.

"Umeko…" She could hear the smile behind his mask. "You aren't a failure. It wasn't your fault. No one thinks it was your fault. If we thought that, I wouldn't have dragged you out here to help me. Now, there's an Alienizer out on the loose, and if you want to stand here and mope about what happened yesterday, be my guest, but I have a mission to take care."

He was right. She knew he was, yet here she was acting like a spoiled child. "Ban…" Behind her mask, the smaller woman smiled, followed by a nod. If she couldn't at least cheer up for herself, she could do it for Sen. Even though he was in such a horrible state he'd still spent the time to cheer her up. Now wasn't the time to accuse him of being a liar. She never thought he was, so why was she starting now? How could she doubt the one man she cared most about?

The pair got ready to go back to their search when suddenly the Alienizer himself appeared before them. Everything happened so fast, there really was no time to react.

"Umeko!" she heard DekaRed call out to her. Spinning around, she came face to face with the Alienizer. Pulling up her d-revolver, she somehow managed to pull the trigger, but she never got to see if she hit him. There was a loud explosion and then everything went black. DekaPink knew everything happened within seconds, but it felt like forever to her. Many times she heard DekaRed call out to her, but along with that darkness soon came silence.


	3. Chapter 3

**Special Thanks to:**

**Umeko-chan:** Thanks for reviewing again. Happiness. I'm glad you liked the last chapter. I put a lot of effort into it. I hope you enjoy this one as well.

Chapter 3

Umeko blinked her eyes open, or so she thought. She wasn't sure. The room was dark and her body felt heavy. She looked around and slowly things came into vision. She tried to move her hand, but found she couldn't. It felt like something was holding it down. Looking over, she saw Sen sitting there in a chair, grasping onto her hand. His head lay against the bed next to her, eyes closed, sleeping. A small smile made its way on her face, but she found herself wincing, jerking her hand from the man that was holding it.

Sen's eyes shot open, his head flying up as he stared down at Umeko. "Umeko!" he called out. "You shouldn't move so much."

"Sen-san…" She shook her head softly and stared up at the man. "Where…"

"You're at the base. Don't you remember what happened?" He reached over and turned on the light so they could see better. Immediately Umeko covered her eyes, but eventually got used to the light and set her hand back down.

Umeko's eyebrows furrowed together as she tried to remember back to what happened. Slowly images came back to her till finally she let out a loud gasp, moving on instinct, causing herself to wince again from pain, letting out a small cry.

"Umeko!" She felt the man suddenly at her side, both hands resting on each of her shoulders. Lifting one, he ran it through her hair and a small smile appeared. "I thought I told you to be careful."

Umeko smiled. "Gomen." She thought back to everything that had happened, from the moment that Ban… She looked up at Sen. "Where's Ban? Why was he… even here?" She hadn't thought about that when everything had been happening. She had just been coming out of a daze when he was pounding on her door, and then she was shocked into the news that everyone had been caught in an explosion. There was no room to wonder why the man had even been there.

"Oh, Ban." Sen smiled. "You're wondering that now? Well, when we'd first gone out to catch the Alienizer Ban appeared. Seems the Fire Squad had been tracking it down for a while and it led them here on Earth."

"Ah." She nodded. "Is he…?"

"You want me to get him?" He watched as Umeko nodded up at him. "I'll be right back." He smiled down at the girl and brushed a few stray hairs off her face. Standing, he made his way out of the room, shutting the door behind him.

After some time, the door flew open and Ban came flying into the room, immediately taking the seat next to her bed. "Umeko! You're okay!" he said in that loud obnoxious voice of his. Umeko smiled. She had missed the man. "I was so worried. After that explosion you had been buried under the rubble. It took me forever before I finally reached you. I was supposed to leave right after the mission, but I wanted to make sure you were alright first. You were out for a couple of days."

"The Alienizer…"

"Ah, him." Ban grinned. "That was a lucky shot you got!" the man told her. "You hit him, right in the heart. He's gone."

Umeko was relieved. She had gotten the Alienizer just as she had wanted. When she had shot at the Alienizer, she had done it blindly and hadn't really counted on hitting him. Ban was right. That was a lucky shot.

Ban's grin turned into a soft smile as he stared down at the woman. "Well, now that I know you're okay, I have to report back to the Fire Squad. Umeko, you take care of yourself." Standing, he took the woman's hand into his own for a moment and squeezed it reassuringly. Pulling his hand from hers, he turned and left the room. Umeko knew she wasn't going to see him for awhile.

xxx

A couple days later and Umeko was feeling much better. She still couldn't get out of bed, but it didn't hurt as much to move now, and having Sen for company made it that much better. He was always there by her side, taking care of her, despite the fact that he himself was still healing. Finally, the day came where she could get out of bed, although she still couldn't walk. They made her ride around in a wheelchair. No worries though. She had Sen to push her around.

Sen loved watching Umeko. Since she had woken up she'd been full of nothing but smiles, and though she went back to whining all the time, he enjoyed it. This was the real Umeko, and he wouldn't have her any other way. When he first saw her after she had been brought back he had been afraid that he was going to lose the woman. Everyone was. It was really a miracle that she had survived that explosion at all. According to Ban, the explosion happened right next to Umeko and all the walls had just caved in on her, burying her. After Umeko had been brought in, while they were treating her, her heart had stopped beating for a moment. When that had happened, Sen felt his own heart stop as well. He had never been so scared in his life before.

"Ne, Sen-san," Umeko started, looking up at her friend. Sen blinked and stared down at the woman, being pulled from his thoughts. "Can we go on a picnic?"

Sen blinked and then smiled. She was in a wheelchair and she was worried about going on a picnic? "When you get better I promise I'll take you out on a picnic."

"Promise?" she asked him, her eyes gazing up at him innocently.

"Hai. I promise." He blinked when Umeko suddenly held her hand up at him, her pinky sticking out. Smiling, he reached out and wrapped his own pinky around hers. It was childish, but it was an Umeko thing to do.

"This seals our promise then!" she exclaimed. Grinning, she turned away from him, fighting down a blush. "You can't break your promise."

"Hai hai," he answered, patting her on the head and then pushing her towards the infirmary to get a checkup with Swann. It was good to have the old Umeko back.


End file.
